I knew exactly what shot I wanted... and it wasnt happening.. That was Plan A. So... Plan B.. finally got something I felt I could use.... but.. you know that feeling... "I love this.. but... "

Kept trying.. and that was the problem.. was trying too hard. Then.... Monday morning.. after yet another session that was going nowhere much and I made the decision to use Plan B....

THEN....THERE was the shot.. I had 1 second to make the shot and it was highly unlikely to be repeatable. and I had never had a photograph of the Boys like it. I actually got 3 shots ... the 2nd was technically better (focus, light etc but...)

Technically ..this is not the hot shot... but EMOTIONALLY... it hit me hard. The reason for choosing this one of the three was the bonus that I am reflected in their eyes and their Joy was palpable.

The Photograph

My Boys.. my Heartsongs... my two so different Lights in a sometimes dark world.

There isnt a night I dont hold you before we go to bed and I tell you I love you and I will keep you safe ... Always.

There isnt a morning I dont reach out to touch your fur before getting up.

There isnt a time when things are hurting I dont feel you gently lean into me and comfort me.

This was a challenging week in many ways! So much going on around my birthday and retirement, and suddenly the necessity to go shopping for a new car! I wasn't sure where photo shoots would fit in! But one thing that has to happen every day, no matter what, is brushing the dogs. I've long wanted to get photos of the process, but since I'm both the brusher and the photographer, how to do it?? I have no tripod. I think my camera has a timer, but I've never found it. This week, I thought to just set the camera on the bookcase, pointed in what I thought was the general direction, hit the button and get back to Winkie as quick as I could! As you can imagine, it took several tries. But I actually came away with a handful of shots that really do capture our daily experience.

It's well known that getting brushed is not Winkie's favorite thing. So, although he is a joyful soul, this is not a Joy of Life photo. It's just the Practicality of Life

For this challenge I decided to go with the common, practical everyday occurrence that happens in Bonzer's (and every dogs) life. In this photo we see him doing something he's done several times a day, every day, for 10 years.

When I first thought of this idea for the challenge, I was thinking- no prob getting a pic but boy was I wrong!

Cold weather and a dog that can be uncooperative without even meaning to, conspired against me!

I loaded Bonzer up with 2 cups of chicken broth (which he lapped up happily) and left him in the house for a few hours. We go outside but he just lays down and looks around. Back into the house we go to repeat the process with another cup of broth and another hour of waiting. Our second trip out was as unproductive as the first. Grumbling to myself and thinking of the saying - "You can lead a horse to water...." we head back to the house. I was beginning to wonder how big his bladder was! We go back outside for the third time, with me scurrying along behind him, camera ready, as he trots off purposefully and what does he do? He heads under a tree and relieves himself! Disappointed, I turned the camera off and started back to the house and just then, his friend- a male retriever from across the road- shows up. Alright! I thought, turning the camera back on. I knew this meant a pee fest was about to start!

Sure enough, Bonzer had left some extra in reserve and I was able to get this shot of him reclaiming his territory.

I chose black and white for this photo because I think it puts more emphasis on the texture of his fur, the coarseness of the tree bark and the neat abstract design that his body is making- his raised and bent leg, mimicking the shape of the tree and his tail curled and held high. I felt B&W also added to the ho hum nature of what he's doing.

We did this again on another day, so I could try and get some frontal views also but the little booger, who always has to be in the lead, wouldn't let me get in front of him.

For Kitsune, life is anything but monotonous. The way he lives his life, finding joy in even the most routine of daily tasks, is such a constant source of inspiration to me. I truly think that the world would be a much happier place if more people went about their lives the way that Kitsune does!

Kitsune truly loves life. He's always smiling, always happy to make new friends, always having fun. My crazy boy even enjoys going to the vet, because it means going on an adventure and meeting new friends. Life, to Kitsune, is good meals, snuggles with people who love him, new friends wherever he goes, a warm bath after a day of hard play. Life is love, life is happiness, and life is fun!

For this weeks photo, I wanted to use a photo that captures something of Kit's happy, playful personality. I decided to go with this picture of my 4 year old puppy's toothy grin! When I picture Kitsune in my head - this is almost exactly how I picture him - happy, ready to play, with a cheeky grin on his face. I also though it was fitting for the life challenge because Kitsune has this tendency to lay on his back, all stretched out, and when I see him laying this way, not a care in the world, I think if he could talk, he would be saying "This is the life!".

When she was very young she was very sick with a super bug that wouldn't go away. We had to give her 3 shots everyday that made her extremely sick. She was at the vets constantly, having a needle passed through her tummy into her bladder,even then she was and still is very happy to go to see Sarah, her vet!

She gets up in the morning literally with a smile on her beautiful little face! Tuesday, I still didn't have a picture that worked with this challenge. I had done several photo shoots and didn't get the results that I was looking for.

Tuesday night was bath and grooming night. We always start in the basement (family room) with her up on the grooming table which she loves because it goes up and down. With all that hair, we need to make sure that there are no rats or mats before bathing her.

When she gets down from the table, we tell her to go get in the tub, which is 2 flights up. And that's what she does, she gets in the tub and waits for us to come up to bathe her. We taught Dandi to get in the tub on her own from a young age. We knew she was going to be big and that I wouldn't be able to pick her up. We didn't plan on her weighing 80 pounds! (Yes, I know it's impolite to talk of a ladies weight in public, but she said it was ok) I have gotten some really funny shots of her in her bath, proof is in some of the pictures in her Dogster Plus Photo Book, so I always grab my camera.

This is what we found, Dandi in the tub with her favorite stuffie, Pink Patrick! I guess she figured I always wash her toys and bedding after bathing her so everything is clean, so she was going to save me a step and wash Pick Patrick with her!

Me will keep fetching it to the point of near collapse. I keep bringing it back to mom, and handing it to her so she will throw it again and again and again... But since this ball is so special to me, mom will put it up, lest Oscar or Jimmy get hold of it. When them has, it went MIA for up to weeks at a time Mom even bought me a spare, but me knows the difference

So for this challenge, me wanted to show the sheer joy me experiences playing wiff my beloved Kong Ball. Mom mixed it up a little by letting Jimmy run loose while me played for a while The little bugger even got it once before me did by going UNDER me!

Me could have gone wiff the "safe shot". There was a few of me taking a break with the look of happiness that would not to be denied. In pawfect focus too! But where's the fun in that?

So here it is... Just before this shot, Jimmy tried going over me, then around me trying to get the ball from me... (the practicality of that is me is older, smarter, bigger and more cunning...) and you can see the satisfaction on my face as my heart cried out

My least favourite dog chore is scooping up the yard, especially in winter, where if you miss one, you won’t find it ‘til spring!

I was trying for a more serious, quiet photo for this Challenge and tried out a few poses with Rexy, but it just didn’t work. I didn’t like what I was seeing. It turns out that this girl doesn’t really find anything monotonous or boring about life, even chores that I find dull and tedious.

This whole fiasco started by me asking her to hold the shovel for a photo, and quickly progressed to some ridiculous antics with it – running, flinging, pawing etc.

This shot was one of many of her being a goofball with the poop shovel. I caught her looking as though she is trying to scoop with it.

So, in the end, I guess this photo is a blend of the practicality and the joy of life - practicality for the human, and joy for the dog.

Treader's absolute favorite thing in the world would either have to be being outdoors--that, or food.
In any case, a nice day where he can run around and explore, as well as chase cats, is an ideal day for him. Unfortunately we can't just let him run loose, so unless he manages to get loose, he's usually limited to being out on a leash.

In this photo he's out in my yard. I have a pretty big yard. This part of it is fenceless, but a little ways away from the road. When I take Treader out there, I bring food with me to distract him if he starts to wander too far.
I sometimes take him out there along with some food to keep his interest so he won't run off.
I chose it out of my other photos because I think it best captures what Treader would consider celebrating life.

This week i found particularly hard to think of a shot really. Before i realised, it was that time of the week again to post our shots and i had come up with nothing. So, i'm using a picture from late September time, one that symbolises Ty's joy and delight in life.

This isn't technically perfect. But Ty is such a serious soul usually and to catch this type of shot is few and far between. You can see the joy in his face by his expression. What could be better than enjoying a lovely country walk with lots of freedom and enjoying a good roll in the grass? I always think of my two rolling around as the ultimate contentment they are experiencing. They're relaxed, happy, and without a problem in the world.

Really couldn't decide between B&W or colour. The colour version seemed too harsh and the B&W looks better IMO. But it would have helped if i had captured more definition and clarity in the overall picture.